what's going on with specs?

People who post this question don't consider that specs are into a resistor.

Relation to a speaker [cables included] load: LESS THAN ZERO.

ONLY SONICS MATTER. And for once I agree w MC.

"If it measures good and sounds bad, –– it is bad. If it sounds good and measures bad, –– you've measured the wrong thing." –– Daniel R. von Recklinghausen, HHScott

so close you would have a hard time telling them apart better than guessing

Perhaps some might be guessing, but there are innumerable people who can tell the difference on any program.

In firearms, there a units whose accuracy is so good that they are set aside for competition. These arms may be designated 1:100 or 1:1000 depending on their superiority.

The same is true for many manufactured item: Engines, binoculars, electronics, etc. Manufacturers run Monte Carlo analysis based on component part tolerances. Just as there are 1:100 on the top, there will be the same on the bottom. They meet spec, but will never hold.

I once bought an amp a pal owned based on how it sounded in both our systems. After a couple of weeks, I returned the one I bought as it was sonically inferior. On the bench, both measured the same.

When we shipped systems for recording studios, the final QC was a listening test. Some units were reworked, some binned.

2 amps that measure the same as long as they are used within their limits will sound the same

Please list the required measurements

Measurements change with temperature, so unless the amp is played at the measurement temperature, they are meaningless.

Measurements are made with static signals, so unless you listen to test tones, they are meaningless.